Q – What is the core of a successful novel? A – You can in some way identify with it; you recognise it as relating to your own life experience. And this doesn’t mean you need to have experienced exactly the same events that the novel describes: simply that you recognise the truth in theContinue reading “The Core of a Successful Novel: The Ring of Truth”
Tag Archives: book review
Historical Novels versus History Books, and Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall: The Power To Make You Feel You’re An Insider in the World of Henry VIII
Hilary Mantel’s success in winning the Man Booker Prize for her novel “Bring Up the Bodies” has provoked many varying opinions of her work. For my part, I look forward to reading this second book in her Tudor Trilogy. The other day I had a conversation with a keen reader who said, “I don’t likeContinue reading “Historical Novels versus History Books, and Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall: The Power To Make You Feel You’re An Insider in the World of Henry VIII”
A US Reviewer’s Take on “Mystical Circles”
A US reviewer says: “What Juliet finds when she reaches the ranch is an oddly charismatic and dysfunctional group of people…. there are strange things happening in the commune, and when a priest shows up it further traumatizes the group… This loving and freedom-believing cult, while wonderful on the surface is a cauldron of deceitContinue reading “A US Reviewer’s Take on “Mystical Circles””